


What's In A Moment?

by randompandemic



Series: Fifteen Kisses [3]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Perc'ahlia, my take on THE MOMENT, spoilers through episode 72
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-10-24
Packaged: 2018-08-24 10:51:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8369485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randompandemic/pseuds/randompandemic
Summary: In just one moment, everything changed between them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Lol, well, I guess I'll have to offer my take on THE MOMENT as well, don't I. Y'all know exactly what moment I mean. Spoilers for episode 72, obviously.

**Percy:**

It was a split decision.

They had laughed, both a little awkward suddenly, after this honest heart-to-heart they had, about forgiveness and mercy and moving forward. He had felt a small blush creep into his cheeks. He had missed this – talking with her like this. It had been strange between them after… well, after his soul had crashed back into his body. He had no explanation, only speculation, and he did not like having only half of the picture before making a decision. But she had been distant, had been guarded, ever since, and it had bothered him. It had bothered him unbelievably. To have this moment with her, this quiet pause after all the chaos of the past few days - the diplomacy with the ravenites, the dragon slaying, the elephant mayhem – was a welcome change. It was like a weight was falling off his chest. She was still his pillar of strength, she still cared, and she was so proud of him, it made him feel… _good_. About himself, about his decision to let past mistakes rest. It felt _good_. Ripley was dead, Orthax had no hold on him anymore, he was finally – _FINALLY_ – able to move forward.

And he wanted to move forward _with her_. He wanted to tell her that, but as silence settled like the flurries of snow dancing around them, things were suddenly not so easy anymore. He was overthinking. She was overthinking as well, by the way Vex’ahlia was looking away now, gaze lowered, brushing hair behind her ears nervously. She cleared her throat.

“Well… that’s… that’s all,” she finally said. He nodded. Right. Of course it was.

He braced himself to walk away, or watch her walk away. But something in his brain just shut down. Probably the part that tended to overthink everything. Something about his own words took over. _The right time, the right place, the right people_. Maybe this was. Maybe _they_ were. He didn’t know. He knew she cared. She knew she was his favourite, always had been. Maybe they should give this a try, maybe they _should_ have a conversation of an entirely different kind. About them, about their feelings, about whatever this was that had been... quietly growing within for so long. Maybe it was time he told her how he felt. He remembered the Echo Tree, remembered her words than. _‘My heart is someone else’s’_. He remembered the silly little pang in his own heart, thinking _‘Does she mean me?’_ and he remembered tearing himself down moments after. _‘Of course not. She means Vax. Or Trinket. Or someone. Not me. Why would she possibly give her heart to me?’_. Back then, that had only seemed logical. Now? With things in him healing… he was suddenly willing to take that chance. Maybe that just showed how far he had come. He liked to think so. That he had finally come far enough to accept that maybe, just maybe, someone could... _love_ him. 

It was a split decision, really, that made him walk up to her. He saw that she was surprised, that she did not see it coming at all, but it was too late to pull the emergency breaks now. There was no way the momentum could be stopped now. He had a hand on the side of her jaw – regretted that he was wearing gloves, for he wanted to feel her skin, even just a little – and met her surprised gaze in the fraction of a second it took for him to close his eyes and bring his lips to her.

Gods, it was like lighting snapped through him. The feeling of her lips against his, tingling with warmth, soft and sweet. He could feel her draw in a surprised breath just after their noses brushed in a clumsy attempt to not outright collide, and he felt her hand on his arm. For a second he was certain she would push him away, upset with his unwanted advance, and he was fully prepared to step away, to accept her rejection. But she did not. She held on, grabbed hold of his sleeve, and leaned into his kiss, onto her tiptoes, he assumed. He blinked, saw she had her eyes closed, saw snowflakes glitter in her dark hair. And for a moment, everything was perfect. This was perfect. She was perfect. _They_ were perfect. He felt a smile form on his lips just a heartbeat before he broke the kiss and Vex’ahlia stumbled a little in surprise.

“We’ll talk later,” he said. Because Gods, if he did not leave right now, he was not sure if he would ever be strong enough to pull away from her lips again. And there was still the very real possibility that Vax’ildan was hovering around them invisibly, and he would rather not find three daggers in his back for taking things too far with his sister. And he was acutely aware of Grog and Scanlan’s shenanigans in the distance. This was _not_ the place or the time for the talk they needed to have. But it had been the perfect place and time for this kiss.

As he walked away, he felt his heart drum all the way up into his ears. He knew he was grinning like a love-struck fool. And he was. He really was. 

* * *

 

**Vex’ahlia:**

It was not what she had set out to do, but in a way it was better.

She would have made it about herself, about her feelings, but halfway through asking him for a talk she realised that was not what they needed now. What they _needed_ was to be fine. With each other, and with themselves. They had to get over the awkwardness that had been their time in the library. There was so much that had to be said, and she would take it one step at a time. She would take a page out of his book, and approach this slow.

_‘You’ve taken it slow for months, Vex. He almost died._ You _almost died. Now is NOT the time to take it slow!’_ said a little voice in the back of her head that sounded suspiciously like Vax. Still, she stuck to her plan, and it was worth it. To see Percy smile, to see Percy admit that maybe there was hope, maybe he could move forward, maybe he could forgive and could learn to forgive himself… that was worth it. She was glad she initiated this talk. Because it was what he had needed. She would have liked more, she would have liked to tell him what weighed so heavy on her heart, wanted to tell him what she felt, and what losing him had done to her. But she was happy to postpone that, if it meant he had some peace of mind instead of being burdened by someone else's feelings.

“Well… that’s… that’s all,” she said, her voice very small, sounding foreign to her own ears. She brushed her hair back and tried not to look at him, tried not to drown in his smile and his blue eyes, tried not to think of the way he had lain there, cold and bloodied and still, tried not to think of the way that had utterly destroyed her.

She heard his footfall in the snow, but she did not see it coming at all. Did not see _him_ coming at all. She felt the smooth leather of his glove on her jaw, his thumb brushed her cheek and she looked up perplexed. And then his lips were on hers. Just like that. No warning, no lead-up, he just kissed her, noses bumping a little clumsily because neither of them had really been prepared for it. And Vex’ahlia felt her whole world jump out of its rails. She drew in a surprised gasp, the air tasted of fresh snow, and of Percy. She could feel her knees give out under her, and had to hold on to his arm to stay standing. She forced her knees to stay where they were, and it made her stand taller, made her lean into him, into his kiss. And it was _everything_ she had hoped it would be. Nothing like the kiss she had placed on his cold, dead lips before. That had not been him and she had felt it and it had nearly torn her apart all over again, because there had been nothing of him in that kiss. But he was _here,_ right now. This was all him, alive and warm and sure and confident an careful and soft all at the same time.

When he moved away to break the kiss, she had to bite back a sigh of protest. His taste lingered on her lips, and she would give anything to keep it there forever.

“We’ll talk later,” he said, and she saw a smile on his lips just before he left.

Vex’ahlia stayed behind where she stood, still completely taken by surprise. She knew her face had to be as red as Keyleth’s hair by now, her ears probably as well, judging by how feverishly hot they were. But she could also feel the uncontrollable grin, a giddy happiness bubbling through her. _We’ll talk later_. Later. Later when? Where? What did he want to talk about? The anticipation would kill her, but right now, it did not matter. Because _Percival Fredrickstein von Musle Klossovski de Rolo III. had kissed her_. And really, right now that was all that mattered and all she wanted to think about.


End file.
